The Crystal Star by Vonda N. McIntyre

The Hutt Gambit: Book Two of the Han Solo Trilogy by A.C. Crispin

For October, I thought we should go back to the 90s. Back to when we got two books a year. Back to Bantam Publishing!

The Truce at Bakura by Kathy Tyers, picks up immediately after Return of the Jedi. The plot is a self-contained story about the Empire’s and the Rebel Alliance's efforts to save the population of Bakura from an invasion by the lizard-like Ssi-ruuk. One of my favorites, the book is the first to feature an extra-galactic threat—one that comic readers had read in the old Marvel, and a theme that would reappear years later in the NJO series of books. The novel also has one of the first religions in the Star Wars universe – one that sees the Jedi/Sith as immoral.

The next novel, The Crystal Star by Vonda N. McIntyre, is perhaps best known for being consistently at the top of fans' lists of the worst Star Wars books ever published. Hey, it’s Halloween right? Well, the book is not bad at all, but it is weird as Sith. Its plot about a secret cult surrounding a being from another dimension is certainly odd in the Star Wars universe, at best. The Crystal Star is notable for being the first novel to focus on the Solo children as characters. Twisty and I read this book to each other every night.

The The Hutt Gambit: Book Two of the Han Solo Trilogy by A.C. Crispin goes back in time, exploring Han Solo's life before the Rebel Alliance. The Hutt Gambit develops Han Solo's partnership with Chewbacca and entrance into the world of smuggling under Jabba the Hutt. True, this is the middle of a three book cycle, but stands alone very well. The plot points of the first book are retold, and re-retold, in the narrative: and besides, it is Han Solo! You know him! Of course, you are more than welcome to read all three books, and will get bonus points for doing so. Like the OT, the middle one is the best of the three.

Aaaand oops. I tied it back up. A.C. Crispin's Han Solo trilogy has and will always be one of my favorite book series. Han was always my favorite character, and this book trilogy did a fantastic job catching the feel and essence of Han in his early years.